


blood, ash, and dust.

by annhamilton



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies), Thor (Movies)
Genre: Avengers Infinty War fix-it, Death, Gen, Loki (Marvel)-centric, Not Avengers: Infinity War Part 1 (Movie) Compliant, Sacrifice, Time Loop
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-10
Updated: 2019-04-10
Packaged: 2020-01-11 00:21:20
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,959
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18418940
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/annhamilton/pseuds/annhamilton
Summary: Golden fingers wrap around his throat, he doesn’t even have the Tesseract this time.It doesn’t matter.Nothing matters anymore.Loki is trapped in a time loop on the day he gets killed by Thanos and can’t figure out how to get out with his, Thor’s, and the other Asgardian people’s lives.





	blood, ash, and dust.

**Author's Note:**

> so finally I finally managed to get this in words after thinking about it for weeks. Unbeta’d so all mistakes are mine. 
> 
> Not intended Thorki but can be read as such.
> 
> Warnings: violence, some suicidal thoughts, death (although it is undone by the time loop)

**one.**

Blood, ash, and dust. The hum of power. Golden fingers wrapped around his throat.

“You will never be a god.”  

  
  


**two.**

Loki woke up, cheated death a third time, Surtur destroyed Hela, lightning cracked in the wind, blood, ash, and dust coated the air.

He turned to Thor, who sat on his chair in the ship like it was the highest of thrones. 

Loki’s throat was dry. “He’s coming.” 

“Who?” Thor’s eyes narrowed, he thought it might be a trick. 

“Thanos.”

He tried to make a portal with the Tesseract but he had no instrument and was too weak to escape. 

Golden fingers wrap around his throat, he doesn’t even have the Tesseract this time.

It doesn’t matter. 

 

**six.**

It always starts when they reach Asgard, the strange way of time on Saakar is finally good for something. 

Lightning cracks, bodies burn. 

“Wait,” Loki cried when Thor told Loki to put Surtur’s crown on the Eternal Flame. Hela stared at him, she walked forward, blades dark and jagged in her hands. “You have to help me.” 

“Loki what are you—” 

“Thanos is coming,” Loki stepped forward, towards Hela, to his doom.

“And why should I care.” There is laughter in her cold voice. She doesn’t care, Loki knows but has to try.

He pleads and she strikes.

“You cannot defeat me.” 

A sneer like a twist of a knife. 

Thor stared at him breathless from battle, confused, and the look in his eye is like Loki just betrayed him.

Maybe he did. Hela lets the blade slip from her fingers. 

This time it’s a blade through the chest.

  
  


**eight.**

He closed his eyes, the ship sails on. The Tesseract in his hand.

“Kill away.

Thor cried out in pain. Loki doesn’t stop as purple glowed, the Power Stone come to life and blood splattered. Thor screamed and screamed, as he was ripped apart. 

Loki couldn’t watch anymore, he turned his head. A shell of a head barely attached to a body was dropped on the ground. Thano takes the Tesseract and Loki can’t watch.

The gauntlet is on his head, wrapped in his hair and it pulled Loki’s head to look right at the scarred face. Sympathetic dark eyes watched him, the fire reflects in Thanos’ eyes. Loki tries to look away. 

“I give you credit for your commitment,”  Thanos’ voice is deep, aged for centuries. “I am sorry my child, but you still have failed me, may the sons of Odin lay together.” 

Loki doesn’t flinch when his golden collar is back, purple and blue and blood and death. It’s like falling asleep. 

  
  


**ten.**

Loki fleas this time, he puts the crown on the flame and flew off. He leaves the Tesseract. 

The loop resets before he can reach Midgard.  

He doesn’t care, he knows Thanos’ ravaged Asgard, leaving what was once his kingdom as corpses. 

  
  
  


**thirteen.**

Loki grabbed the steering controls, “We’re not going to Midgard.”

Thor jumped to his feet, Hulk pounded his hand to his fist. 

“We’re being hunted...I’m being hunted...I have no more shields to hide behind, Thor, don’t you see, I have no more tricks.

“Loki we’re fine,” Thor said like Loki was a toddler. “Hela she—”

“It’s not her, it’s Thanos, he’s a planet killer,” Loki couldn’t look at Thor. “He sent the Other, who sent me to Midgard, he didn’t care about ruling Midgard as much as he cared about the Tesseract.” Loki turned the ship, set in a new course.“He’s hunting the Infinity Stones.”

Thor’s eye stared at Loki. “You have it don’t you.”

Loki held up his arm and he smelled blood and ash in the clear air. The blue stone appeared in his hand. “I know you don’t trust me, Thor.” Loki set it down on the floor and held his hands up in surrender. He kicked it over to Thor. “It’s your burden to bear now, brother.” 

Thor didn’t pick the Tesseract up. 

Loki took a deep breath, nothing choked him yet. “We’re going to go the Nidavellir.” 

“Why?” Thor asked and he sounded tired and amused. 

“To get you a weapon to beat Thanos with. To get some help.” 

“If he wants the Tesseract,” Thor picked up the Tesseract. “Let's throw it into space.”

Loki laughed. “Go ahead.”

Blue on black and controls ripped from his hand and blood, ash, and dust and gold around his neck.

  
  


**twenty-two**

Loki’s so tired he walks into death with open arms, let Hela’s hoards of dead men kill him. 

  
  


**thirty.**

He told Thor about the loop, he doesn’t believe him. 

Purple glows. 

“Alright stop,” Loki yelled. “I’m sorry,” he tells Thor. He doesn’t have time for riddles. Tesseract in hand he stepped forward. He closed his eyes and let it all unfold with a rainbow flash and spear through Heimdall. 

This time he simply blew up the ship. 

Loki fell. Like before as he let go of the King’s golden staff. 

 

**thirty-five.**

Alone Loki makes his move, he tells Thor everything, the loops, how he knows Thanos, what his plan is. 

Thor balled his hands in fists and asked questions Loki couldn’t answer.

Loki grabbed Thor’s cape as he tried to leave, saying it would be alright, that they would find a way. 

“I’ve gone through this too many times,” Loki whispered as if he said it louder it would be more real then when he was choked or torn apart. “I never get off this ship,” Loki adjusts his hand so that it rested on Thor’s shoulder.  “Not without Thanos killing everyone on it.”

“There has to be a way for us to all make it”

Loki shook his head. 

With the fire of a thousand suns does the sons of Odin fight this time, lightning cracks and steel cuts. They fall with honor, side by side and Loki has no tears in his eyes when they close.

  
  


**forty.**

Loki explains everything once he wakes up, as they sail to meet Thanos.  Thor’s eyes widen. 

“What could cause something like this?” 

Loki laid back on the couch. “The Time Stone but it’s nowhere to be seen when the loop resets.”

“Could the Tesseract do it,” Thor tried. “Space and time are linked.”

Loki shrugged. “I didn’t do this and Thanos wouldn’t do this, his punishment for me is death,” Loki explained.

Valkyrie rolled her eyes. “So get to the Time Stone,” she said, as sassy and sarcastic as ever. 

“I’ve been in this loop for forty rounds, if I do that Thanos will still come for Asgard, then he will destroy the universe.”

“Hela could have done it,” Thor continued. “She is very powerful.”

“She doesn’t have the Time Stone.”

“We have no idea what she can do.”

“She’s dead what else can we do to stop her,” Loki said and closed his eyes. He wanted to sleep for as long as he could.  

“Spells can last after death.” 

“Who cares why it’s happening,” Loki stopped after loop twelve. “I just want it to be over.”

“You’re still alive, Loki, so act like it.” 

“I’m tired Thor, so tired.”

Lightning cracks and Loki fell this time, Thor was blown to bits.

  
  


**forty-five**

“Don’t you see,” Loki said to the Revengers on the refugee ship as he explained himself. “This is my eternal punishment, none of you are even real.”

Valkyrie's face is set in a neutral expression. Thor sat down next to him, many emotions play out on his brothers face. Anger, sadness, regret and something else Loki can’t place.

“I am real. Loki,” Thor said. “We’re gonna get past this.” 

Loki smiled, it’s all he can do now.  “No, I’m not.”

Pieces were thrown everywhere as the ship creaked and broke apart. 

This time on his feet. “You will never be a god.” 

“Is that so?” 

Loki held his head high, what does he have to lose. “Never while I live.” 

Thanos laughed, deep in his chest. A hand enclosed around his throat, lifted him from the ground. “Then it’s a good thing you will be gone soon.” 

Loki’s last breaths were laughter. 

  
  


**fifty-three.**

“It has to be Hela,” Loki told Thor this time he asked. “It can be no one else, she must have trapped me in this.”

“How?” Thor asked.

“I don’t know.”

  
  


**sixty-eight.**

Loki finally confronts her on the bridge. Tells her he’s in a loop and can’t get out. She froze and laughed. “Of course I could do that, I should have made a time loop when Odin betrayed me but he bound me before I could,” She spread out her arms, blades in each hand. “Only the Master of the Time Stone can stop it.” 

“Can’t you undo it.”

“Time loops like the one you describe is complicated blood magic, a deal with the fates.” She smirked. “I’m proud of myself.”

“Undo it.”

“And why would I do that.”

Asgard burned thanks to him but it didn’t matter. Loki would just wake up.

 

**seventy-one.**

“Hela did this,” Loki said to Thor in the ship after she was gone for what felt like the millionth time. “I can’t undo it. She won’t do it, it took so many tries to even talk to her.” 

“Magic can create time loops?” Thor asked.

“It’s not unheard of, her powers could have come partially from the Time Stone, she could have absorbed some of it ages ago to create a loop when she needs it, crafted the spell as she fought off Surtur when she realized she was going to lose but it went to me since I had the Tesseract and all the stones call to each other.” 

Thor’s eyes widened as he saw the large ship.

Blood, ash, and dust. Loki smiled this time ready to try again with Hela. 

  
  


**seventy-two.**

Loki doesn’t tell Thor this time, he kills Thor and Valkyrie (only because he’s done this enough time to knows their weak spots and has the element of surprise) to get a moment alone with Hela, Hulk is busy fighting. He has a moment, while she stared at him with an eyebrow raised, but didn’t strike, mistaking him to be on her side.

“I’m stuck in a time loop,” he said. Her stare pierced him like her blades. “You did it to me.” 

“I had the Time Stone ages ago, little boy, I saved it in my magic, I’m not even sure how it works.” She stalked towards him. “So have fun with your deserved punishment.”

Loki drew his knife and he went down with his blade a hair’s breadth from Hela’s skin.

  
  


**seventy-three.**

Thor stood with his arms crossed. “What are you going to do.”

“Nothing.”

And Thor looked at him. Really looked at him and he must have truly seen what laid behind Loki’s cracked mask. 

“How many times.” 

Loki counted each time, he’s on seventy-three. “Twenty,” he lied. To spare Thor from the truth. It didn’t matter anyway things would just reset. 

The blood and death in the room choked him. He let himself be killed like everyone else, he disguised himself and let the spear go through him. He hardly felt it.

  
  


**seventy-four.**

He tells no one this time until Thor is tied up and the Tesseract is in Thanos’ hand. All eyes are on him.

“You’re never going to win,” Loki said. 

Thanos laughed, a laugh that was burned into Loki’s brain. “Why, because of earth's mightiest heroes? Because of the Sons of Odin who I have at my mercy?” 

“At your mercy indeed, but I would think that after centuries of hunting the Stones you’d be able to smell them out, feel them when they are at work.” 

Thanos held up his gauntlet that was adorned by two stones. 

Blood, ash, dust, and Loki was the lightning this time, he flickered with rage. “The Time Stone, Thanos, I am carrying its magic, you’ll never get anywhere. Every time I die, time resets.” 

Thanos’s eyes narrowed, at determined etched on his face. “You cannot trick me.” 

“I speak the truth, my lord.” 

“You beg for you and your brother’s life. I put it past no one to lie under those circumstances.” 

“Not even yourself,” Loki stepped forward. Fires burned around him. “But all mighty Thanos if you tell me something I would never know,  I can prove it to you on next loop.

Thanos smiled, it looked unnatural around his scarred face and purple skin worn with age and many battles. The floor of the ship cracked with purple veins and a blue vortex opened before everything came apart. 

  
  


**seventy-five.**

Loki was beyond tired.

He didn’t even try.

He slept as much as he could, let Thor question him.

“I’m sorry,” Loki said as Thanos caught them. Thor looked around wildly, rage boiled under his skin and with his eye patch, Loki could see Odin in him. 

Fires burned and purpled glowed.  Loki counted steps and committed every movement to memory. 

Blood, ash, dust, and golden fingers around this throat.

A silent scream from Thor. 

Loki says nothing this time. 

  
  


**seventy-six.**

Loki doesn't want to open his eyes, he can hear the Grandmaster’s ship and that's enough. He can feel the other rebels presence as they go to Asgard. For the first time in around fifty loops tears fall from his eyes. 

Not from anger or frustration, just pure sadness, a craving for death. 

Loki hasn’t ever truly believed in the Fates and their loom but now he clasped his hands with a broken breath he prayed. 

This time it’s Hela’s blade through him. 

  
  


**seventy-seven.**

“Do you truly believe in Fate,” Loki asked Thor with a shaky voice in his room on the ship. He felt like a mouse heading to a trap, he was being hunted as he spoke. No matter if he left the Tesseract death follows him. He has been cornered and doesn’t even care right now. He thirsted for knowledge now. 

Secrets. Anything. Part of him thrilled in the fact that as long as he didn’t reset it there were no consequences. 

“Yes, brother, I do.”

“How?” Loki looked around at the stars that shone in the distance and the trap that drew in closer. “After all that’s happened. All the suffering.” 

“We won, Loki,” Thor spread his hands out as the gesture to the success. 

“Thor,” Loki pushed the tears back. “I’m in a time loop, I keep reliving this day, over and over again.” 

Thor crossed his arms over his chest, an eyebrow raised and he wanted a further explanation.

“I can’t break it, I can’t survive long enough to get to earth without Thanos killing everyone on the ship,  seventy-seven times I’ve lived this day and I’m—” Loki cut himself off. Choked by emotion like a gauntlet. “I don’t even know what to say anymore,” Loki reached out for something anything and he met Thor’s shoulder and clawed at it. “Don’t make me explain it.” 

Thor pulled him in for a hug and Loki breathed. He just breathed for a moment. His nails dug into Thor’s skin. “I’m sorry.” 

Thor held onto to him tightly, he didn’t fully understand but he knew enough to know his brother needed him right now.

“Don’t be.” 

“I have to get out of this.” 

He didn’t. This time he died in front of his brother and Thor called out his name. 

  
  


**eighty.**

Heimdall's golden eyes watched Loki. “I can send you anywhere you wish.”

Loki laughed. “It doesn’t matter where I am the loop will reset, and it’s the only thing stopping Thanos from ruining the universe and killing everyone.”

Heimdall's eyes flashed. “I'm sorry. You are not a saint but you don't deserve this punishment.”

“You almost always say that if I tell you, ” Loki said as he stared out at the twinkling stars being overtaken by a dark shadow. “It’s strange coming from a man I almost froze to death.”

Heimdall laughed. “Consider it forgiven,” he said lightly. 

Blood, ash, and dust. Loki didn’t care anymore.

  
  


**eighty-five**

Tucked away in Thor’s unofficial room in the ship, they sat.  Loki didn’t tell Thor this time. They just talked, like it was normal. 

“Was it an illusion, when you were stabbed on  Svartalfheim ?” Thor asked and Loki could tell the question had been eating at him. 

Loki shook his head. “Illusions break at the touch.” 

“Then how did you survive a blade through you."

“I may have over exaggerated it a bit, I knew I might not survive, it was a fifty-fifty chance that I was going to pass out and slowly heal myself or die. I knew that even if I did survive everyone had to think I was dead if I ever wanted freedom.” 

Thor closed his eyes and sighed. “I really thought you died.” 

“I know.” 

“I thought it was my fault.”

Blood, ash, dust, and pain over Thor’s face as metal tied him down. Minutes now till golden fingers tie around his neck. “Don’t blame yourself when I die soon.” 

“Die? Soon?” 

“We’re surrounded, my King.”

“By who?” 

“Thanos and his army, I can’t run from them, they’ll just send out smaller pods or send out out a burst of power from his gauntlet.” 

“Loki, please don’t speak in riddles.” 

“It doesn’t matter.” 

Blood, ash, dust, there was no time for explanation. This time Loki jumped from the ship and let the loop take him.

  
  


**ninety-eight.**

“You see I don’t care,” Loki was standing steps from Hela, a blade pointed at him. He felt Thor’s eyes burning into his back.  Valkyrie's judgment gaze didn’t escape him. “I’m in a time loop, kill me and it resets. Go ‘head.” 

“Loki,” Thor warned like he had any idea what it what was happening.

“You must truly be mad, son of Odin,” Held snickered and drew her wrist back.

“I’m no son of Odin.”

She paused, her fingers twitched on the hilt of her blade. “What is that supposed to mean.” 

Loki took her confusion as an opportunity and dropped his invisibility spell, with a smirk his illusion self broke. Loki stabbed her in the neck, she turned (like in the ten loops before) and aimed a blade at his head, he ducked and cut her head from her body with the strongest knife he owned, enchanted and quick. It didn’t matter, the ship will still come but it felt too good to kill her. Punish her as she did to him.

Thor stared at him. “Loki—”

“Shut up,” Loki said and turned to walk down the Rainbow Bridge. 

Thor enclosed a hand around his shoulder and stilled him. “How? Are you really in a time loop?”

“Yes Thor,” Loki said slowly, mockingly and he ripped his shoulder from Thor’s grasp. “That’s how I knew exactly what to do.” 

“This must be a jest, a trick, Loki, you understand I can’t trust you.”

“I’m not asking for your trust, brother, ” Loki said harsher than he intended. 

“What are you asking of me then?”

A huge ship came upon the horizon. It drove slowly towards Asgard. Black against black, save for the golden piece on the front that made it known this was a vessel of Thanos. 

“Get down,” Loki ordered and pulled Thor down into a crouch. “They're here to kill me.”

Thor's face grew determined and he stared at his hands, only a flicker of power came from them. 

Loki laughed and drew his knives he aimed his knife towards himself. 

Thor tried to take it from his hands. “You're insane, Loki.”

“I need a redo, Thor.” Loki tried to plunge the knife into his heart but Thor knocked his hand over to plunge it into his gut. Loki gasped in pain and crumpled over so he kneeled. Blood dripped down from the wound. Pain shot over him in unstoppable waves.

Thor held the knife in to stop the bleeding. Loki fell forward in pain, into Thor with a grunt. Loki shivered and Thor lowered him to rest on the bridge and put his hands back on the wound. 

Loki tried to push his hands away. “Let me die.” Loki slumped against the bridge. 

Thor's bloodied hand curled around his neck. “Never. Not again,” Thor rasped.

Loki closed his eyes. He felt Thor kiss his brow and rest his head against Loki's sternum. 

  
  


**ninety-nine.**

He sat on the couch with his back to the window and rested his head against the wall. The refugee ship was crowded, all he needed was a minute, just to rest.

Thor walked in and ran a hand through his new haircut. “Where will you go now?”

“Not to Midgard, they hate me. Not to anywhere. I have too many enemies on the move.”

“What enemies? as long as you don’t cause trouble, I won’t chase you.” 

“Not you, brother,” Loki said. “You were never my true enemy, it’s always been myself.” 

Thor didn’t say anything, he only watched Loki with a concerned gaze. Maybe he’s waiting for further explanation.

It doesn’t matter. 

Loki rolled up his sleeve, runes white like wispy scars from his wrist to his forearm, around the runes, since the magic is so strong, so he needs a reminder to fuel rage, is his true form, blue against white. 

Thor stared down at Loki’s arm. “What is this?” Thor asked, his eyes ranked up and down the small intricate runes. “Does it hurt?”

“They’re runes, put on by the Other, to connect himself to me through the scepter,” Loki explained and ran a feather-light touch over the skin. “I failed him and his master, they’ll come for me.” Loki saw the weight of his words settle on Thor. “Even though he’s long dead I can’t get rid of them, no one will touch such dark magic.” 

“Does it hurt.” 

“Not anymore, I hardly feel it.”

“What happened down there?” Thor asked. “After you let go.” He added like Loki could forget where his mind went. “Why did you let go, let go from the family, from me. “

“That's a loaded question.”

“We may be stuck together for a while, I’ll trust you more if I can understand you.”

“I can’t stay with you, Thor,” Loki rolled his head against the window behind him. “It’s a lovely dream but our paths diverged a long time ago. You cannot follow me on mine and I can’t hope to go with you.” 

“Where are you going on your path, Loki?”

“Hell.”

“Loki, don’t do anything stupid.” 

“I’m going to be killed,” Loki slumped down to lay on his back with his hands folded under his head. “You might be too.” 

Thor shook his head. “No, no one will die, we survived her.” 

Loki thrust his arm forward, “this is why we’ll die, I failed Thanos in New York, lost him two stones, cost him a number of soldiers.”

Thor took his arm and wrenched him forward, stern and almost rough. “This means nothing, you’re free,” Thor said like he was talking to a man beyond reason. 

“I remember my time serving him, it’s branded on my skin and when I got it…” Loki trailed off, digging his own grave but it didn’t matter Thor would forget anyway. “They told me it would be a constant reminder of my service, that I couldn’t escape the might of Thanos not even if I ran back home,” Loki laughed to himself. “I suppose they were right. He’s too powerful.”

Thor’s ran a finger over the raised up the skin. “I won’t let anyone get to you if you let me if you show you can be trustworthy,” Thor sounded like a true king, better, saner then Loki could ever hope to be.

“You don’t see do you,” Loki sounded mad but maybe Thor was right. “You can’t save me, no one can.” 

“Not if you think like that.” 

“Ten, nine, eight—”

“What are you doing.” 

Loki closed his eyes he didn’t want to see. “Six, five, four, three, two— “

A loud crash sounded before Loki could say one. He grabbed Thor’s wrist. “Here we go, let the show begin.” Loki’s nails dug into Thor’s arm the runes shone on the inside of his own. “There is no saving us.” 

  
  


**one hundred three.**

Loki had long given up. He flew as far as he could before his ship broke apart for no good reason but the loop needs him back in the Grandmaster’s ship. He doesn’t care. 

  
  


**one hundred ten.**

He held his hands up. “I need you to stop the loop, use the bit of the Time Stone’s magic to stop it and I’ll do anything for you.” 

Valkyrie delivered the crown to the fire. 

“Never.” 

  
  


**one hundred—**

He stopped counting, he stopped caring entirely. He sat in wait for the snake to catch him. He plays with the Tesseract, toys with it until it whispers it’s secrets until Loki can use it to its full power with no greater instrument than his hands and survive.

Loops and loops do it take before he summons its will. 

And when the blood pours he strikes back. When the fires burn and ash settles on their skin, he lashes out. When the dust settles on a loss he kills himself before the loop even has too.

On and on it goes until Loki knows each step the purple titian and his children take. 

Loki grits his teeth and opens a large portal, if he’s going to end the loop then everyone must survive.  Thanos hits the portal with the might of the Power Stone and Loki isn’t strong enough to keep it open. Thanos takes Thor’s body in his bare hand like he’s a ragdoll.  Loki stabs himself before he can see. 

With a cry he opens a portal big enough that the whole ship gets sucked in, he can’t hold it open long enough for them to reach the destination. 

Again and again and maybe into two hundred do the loops go on

He’s on the ground, burning, sweat stains his skin and his lips crack. “You will never win,” Loki spits his blood on the ash-ridden ground. And its Space versus Power, the beams go against each other and Loki crumbled.

Again. Again. Again. It never stops. He counts now. He has a little over thirty minutes before Thanos gets to the ship, if he uses the Tesseract openly he had a few minutes as will Thanos send out fast pods to kill, not enough time to evacuate everyone. If he leaves off on his own, Thanos massacres Asgard anyway and the loop catches him in a few hours from when he comes through the wormhole.

Again. Again. Again. He is tired down the bones but can’t rest. He gets stronger and stronger and he doesn’t save his own skin this time, he could get the Midgard but then what's left of Asgard would die. He ignores the voice in his head the screams for him to look out for himself. That honor doesn’t matter. That the people’s lives don’t matter.

And it’s blue against purple, again and again,  the purple in a nice golden bed and the blue dug into Loki’s white skin. Thor cries out and this time lighting covers him, rippled over him like streams. Loki doesn’t feel anything when he’s slain by his children, he simply lets the purple blast overtake him.

Again more times then Loki can count. Loki’s on a script until Thanos comes. And finally, he knows what he has to do. Tricks.

Again and again. He goes through his new ideas, testing and changing his plan He has low hopes for this loop but low is better than nothing.

  
  


**two hundred—**

He convinces Thor he’s telling the truth with his long-practiced method and they  hide the people away and casts illusions of them, they fall easy then the children of Thanos “stab” them, no need for them to touch skin to skin for a spear through the chest needs no hands on the body, in the dark and chaos no one notices the oddities of the illusions.

Thanos’ children hold him between their weapons. Loki slips away, invisible and lets the illusion talk, stall. He doesn't free Thor, he creeps behind Thanos and the illusion presents the fake stone as Loki used the real one to strike the gauntlet, it breaks apart in shards of gold and the purple stone falls. Power hummed through him like never before as Thanos scrambled.

The illusion vanished and hundreds of false ones covered the ship, ones of Loki and ones of the stones. Loki broke Thor from his chains of metal with another cry of power. “Get the Stone.”

Thor nodded and followed Loki over the “corpses”. illusions flickered flicked like candlelight and went out as Loki almost collapsed from the strain.

Loki summoned the power of the Tesseract again, he felt drained, his muscles burned with the strain but he pushed through. The portal to send his Children to Midgard, let earth's mightiest heroes deal with it. He turned it on Thanos but the Titan moved to take it from Loki and Loki was so weak he could hardly dodge the blow, he rolled down over his shoulder. 

He was ready to try again, for this loop to end and the next to start but Thanos’ fist didn’t take the killing blow. He instead held them up in a gesture of surrender. Loki saw from his place on the ground Thor had picked up the Power Stone and it glowed with brightly and was aimed at Thanos. 

And Thor’s rage will let him use the Power Stone’s might, rage at Thanos for even trying to massacre his people and he isn’t like Loki he’s strong already of both mind and body and Loki smiled.  

Loki stood and moved to Thor’s side, they both aimed for the head.

Blood, ash, dust and this time Loki and Thor both fired the raw power of their Stones at Thanos and his body crumpled and he hit the corpse-littered the ground with a clank. Loki still had some time before the loop reset and he slumped to his knees. Blood, ash, dust, and the golden shards of the gauntlet covered the ship.

Loki fell to his knees and so did Thor, the stones left their hands and clattered on the ground. 

They called for the refugees to come from the hidden places (not as hidden without Loki's illusions) Heimdall led them back. 

“I guess you really are in a time loop,” Thor said, almost jokingly. “Heimdall send him to earth, to the New York Sanctum.” 

Heimdall nodded and rose his sword. 

“Wait,” Loki cried before the rainbow befell him. “Thor comes with me, they still want to kill me you know.”

“Heimdall your in charge,” Thor said and nodded and the rainbow vortex took them in all its glory.

They saw where the battle with Thanos’ children had been, cars were flipped and their bodies lay in a heap. Tony Stark and the Wizard from before and another man/wizard they were the same style of robes and stare at Loki and they take up arms, Stark’s suit forms like a wave of a sea over his body, slowly tiny piece by tiny piece a red and gold suit encased him. The Wizards hold their stance and golden rings come around their arms. 

Loki is leaning almost all of his weight on Thor, he must be a mess, covered in sweat, so the Avengers or whatever drop their stance a little and don’t fire.

“Don’t shoot. He needs Strange’s help, he’s in a time loop and it’ll reset at any moment,” Thor said loudly and hesitantly they come forward to help.

Loki faded in and out of sleep, he heard talking like buzzing over him and green wisps around him. 

  
  


**one.**

The first thing Loki noticed was the plush mattress below him. The fact that he wasn’t standing in a ship with rebels on his way to Asgard. He was in the Wizard or Sorcerer’s Sanctum, in a large room.    

Thor is by his bedside. “Thank you for saving me, saving the universe from Thanos, ” Thor said. “How do you feel?”

“Like shit, ” Loki said and groaned as he shifted against the soft pillow. “But glad it's over.”

Thor nodded. “How many loops did it take?” Thor asked and he looked tense and worried and Loki almost lied on pure instinct alone.

“I stopped counting but it’s somewhere around two hundred if I had to guess.”

Thor dropped his head. “Are you okay?” Thor asked. Loki gestured to his body with a look at Thor. “Mentally I mean,” he added.

Loki chuckled. “I will be if you stop asking questions.” 

“Okay,” Thor said and leaned back in his chair. “One more, though.”

“What?” Loki stared at Thor awaiting his question, only slightly annoyed. 

“Will you stay, on earth I mean?” Thor’s face was hopeful and Loki didn’t know why Thor wanted him around for, maybe he felt guilty for Loki’s suffering in the loops, maybe he really wanted to try and rebuild their relationship.

Loki closed his eyes and relaxed fully, turning boneless. He trusted Thor to watch over him. “For a little bit,” Loki said at length.

“Where will you go after?” 

“You said one more question,” Loki pointed out with a small smile on his lips. “I don’t know, Thor.”  

“Okay, I’ll help you figure it out,” Thor said and Loki could feel the smile on Thor’s face, hear it in his voice. “Are you hungry?” Thor suddenly asked. “You’re probably hungry after all that.”

“Starving,” Loki really wasn’t, he didn't’ give much thought to food between dying and trying to save Asgard.

“What do you want?” 

Loki thought back to his short stay on Midgard, he tried some new food as he waited. “What's it called, the spicy rice and chicken in the white box.” 

“Chinese food,” Thor helpfully supplied. “I’ll get some for you.” 

He heard Thor’s footfalls as he left and Loki was so tired he could hardly keep his eyes open, but a warrior never forgets their instincts. He went for his knife in his boot but stopped when Tony Stark held his hands up, no suit of iron around him. 

“Easy, reindeer games,” Stark pointed at him. “I don’t trust you, you don’t trust me. But your brother does and you took care of a big threat so let's call it even.”  

“So SHIELD won’t be knocking on my door.”

“Nope,” Stark looked at his watch, high tech by the looks of it. “The refugee ship should be here in a few hours,” Stark patted his shoulder. “Thor said the Hulk is on the ship.” 

“Yes.” 

“Did you two get along.” 

“Quite well.”

“Good,” Stark clicked his tongue and it grated on Loki’s nerves. “Well, enjoy your stay on earth and even if we aren’t chasing you I wouldn’t try anything.” With that, he left as quickly as he came and Loki slipped into sleep. 

He woke to the smell of Chinese food, sweet and spicy, flavors Loki didn’t know but it was warm in his hands. Loki opened the box and took the plastic fork Thor offered him.

Thor sat and set a small case of egg rolls down on the bedside table. “I know what we should do while we eat,” Thor said and Loki noticed his box was already open and picked at, it was the same as Loki, chicken, and rice covered in a sticky sauce. ”Watch a movie.”Thor suggested. 

Loki raised an eyebrow in question and took a forkful of the rice, it was delicious, spicy and flavorful. Loki almost swooned. 

Thor had a huge smile on his face  “Groundhog Day.” 

**Author's Note:**

> I hope you enjoyed this, drop a comment or kudos if you want and I’ll see ya if we all survive endgame.


End file.
